The Kree-Skrull War Is Coming To ‘Captain Marvel’ — Here’s How It Could Set Up ‘Avengers 4’

The Kree-Skrull War Is Coming To ‘Captain Marvel’ — Here’s How It Could Set Up ‘Avengers 4’
Here come the Skrulls! [Credit: Marvel Comics]
Here come the Skrulls! [Credit: Marvel Comics]

With all of the excitement and spectacle of Marvel’s San Diego Comic-Con panel, one thing stood out for most fans: not only is Captain Marvel set in the 1990s, firmly establishing the character in the history of the #MCU, but the film will also introduce us to the alien race known as the Skrulls. These shapeshifting villains have plagued Earth’s Mightiest Heroes ever since they were introduced back in 1962. Now, at last, they’re coming to the big screen!

In a follow-up interview with IGN, Marvel visionary #KevinFeige has just revealed that he’s bringing one of the most beloved comic book stories of all time to life. It’s time for…

The Kree-Skrull War

Speaking to IGN, Feige said:

“There is an entire section of our comics that deal with the Kree-Skrull War, and we haven’t tapped into that at all. And we thought that would be an amazing, huge portion of mythology to belong to Captain Marvel.”

In the comics, the Skrulls are a race who believe wholeheartedly in the supremacy of their people. They established an ever-growing Skrull Empire — and then came into contact with the militaristic Kree. The first contact between these two soon devolved into outright war, which has continued from the time of Earth’s prehistory into the present day. In the comics, the Kree created the race known as the Inhumans as potential footsoldiers in the galactic war, but the experiment didn’t quite work out how they’d hoped.

Guardians of the Galaxy substituted the Skrulls for the Xandarians, but we can safely assume they’re just another ancient Kree opponent. As Feige rightly notes, the war between the Kree and the Skrulls is something fans have always loved. It stood at the center of one of the most popular Avengers arcs of all, written by Roy Thomas and running from Avengers #89 through to #97. It’s considered by critics to be one of #Marvel‘s greatest comic book arcs of all time, and the crowning glory of Roy Thomas’s time with Marvel.

A famous cover! [Credit: Marvel Comics]
A famous cover! [Credit: Marvel Comics]

Inspired by Raymond F. Jones’s novel This Island Earth, Thomas envisioned a battle between “two rapacious, galaxy spanning races,” and imagined our planet as the equivalent of some Pacific island in World War II; just another battlefield in a star-spanning war.

What Does This Have To Do With Captain Marvel?

As comic book fans will well know, Carol Danvers’s superhero origin is closely tied to the Kree race. She became an associate of the Kree superhero…